Teresa is off to Berlin again, leaving a Sydney heatwave to join the extra cold European winter.

The check in opened at about 3 1/2 hours before the flight. I did not check in online (silly mistake)so the attendant did her best to get me the best seat available, which was a middle seat but in the upstairs economy section. She assured me that there were less children up there and a more spacious configuration of 2 seats by 4 and then 2.  

At Sydney airport, Qatar airlines has an alliance with Air New Zealand, so I headed up to await my flight. The lounge has a nice outlook over to Botany Bay and a good selection of wines, spirits and beers. The food was varied with hot and cold offerings. 

When we had to line up for the aircraft I needed to remember that I have priority no matter the zone allocated. Once boarded, I had a man on each side of me, with the one on the right being a big bloke. I resigned myself to the crammed conditions. 

Luckily, about an hour into the flight, the big guy’s chair would not recline so the crew moved him downstairs. This was such a relief as it gave us a spare seat and a more comfortable sleep. It is a 14 hour flight to Doha from Sydney, so any extra space was welcomed!

Qatar Hamad airport is new, clean and spacious and easy to navigate. Once off the plane we had to go through security again before I found the Qatar Gold and Platinum lounge to wait in until my next flight to Berlin, a much shorter journey. At 4:30 am, it was quite dark and I was looking forward to daylight so I could see the landscape.

They did ask for my physical Velocity Platinum card to confirm the expiry date, although my boarding pass did say the I was eligible. After going through the app and website trying to find the expiry date, they finally said that I could go through. I think there are still some teething problems with the new alliance of Virgin and Qatar airlines. 

The Qatar lounge had the usual offerings of hot and cold breakfast foods, coffee and tea plus alcoholic beverages. It was comfortable, clean with a pleasant environment.

The lounge was near the A1 gate and I had to find C7 for my flight. Once I got there, boarding had already started. I found the priority queue and handed my boarding pass to the attendant….and it was flagged with a ‘seating issue’. To my great excitement I was upgraded to Business class for the Doha to Berlin part of the journey! First time ever….apparently they had overbooked economy seats so frequent flyers like me were upgraded. Score!

Needless to say the hospitality and extra luxuries that Business class offered were a nice surprise. The ability to lie flat for a sleep was welcomed too! 

Arrived in Berlin to see it cold and covered with snow. 

It was so cold that the canals at the end of Bouchestrasse were frozen…. And the Berliners were out with their sleds and ice skates. I was apprehensive at first but there were so many people enjoying the ice that I had to trust that it was stable enough to walk on!

Back to the warm apartment we had some warm soup and champagne and Rosé bubbles. I had to adjust to the fact that although it was dark it was not time to go to bed as it was only 4:30pm. When I finally went to bed it was for a welcome night’s sleep ready for my next adventure.

Guten Nacht